Thanksgiving Celebration!

We had a Thankgiving Celebration with our Tapestry of Grace Coop this week. Activities included:

Making corn muffins and drinking apple cider

(note-J laying on table as we are trying to make muffins!)

The boys tried their hand at writing Colonial style, with homemade ink and quills
We had two kinds of ink, the one you see C1 using is made of squashed blueberries.

The boys and I also tried to make ink using walnuts. Though the ink didn't come out that great, we had fun with the process. Someone reminded me this week that it is about process, rather than product! We took whole walnuts, put them inside a sock and crushed them with a hammer. Then we took the shells and boiled them and let them sit over night. They had a lot of fun with the smashing, so if you are allergic to walnuts, don't come over anytime soon as I am sure there are shells everywhere!

The girls made corn husk dolls!

We also played lots of Colonial Games, like marbles, pick up sticks, hopscotch and a ring toss.

The boys had a great time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

International Festival

We had the opportunity to participate in an International Festival with our homeschool group. Each family or child choose a different country to represent. The family then had an opportunity to create a display to showcase with what they learned, speak about it, and share food from that country.

We chose to do Ecuador! We spent the several weeks researching the facts about the country. The big boys then each read books about missionaries that spent time there. C1 did Nate Saint and C2 did Jim Elliot. It was amazing to learn about these men whose mission in life was to share the gospel. They ended up getting killed trying to establish a relationship with Auca Indians in Ecuador. Their story is told in the book and movie, End of the Spear.

Here are some pictures from the festival. It was a wonderful time!

Cooking...lots of cooking!

We had lots of opportunities to cook this week! Since I love cooking it is such a sweet time when I am able to share that with the boys.

I decided this week that C1was old enough to cook at the stove, with supervision of course! He made scrambled eggs one day and everyone loved them. He also cooked up the ground turkey for chili in the crockpot. He was so amazed how it came together that he took a picture of it in the crockpot! Doesn't it look delicious! They had the chili with rice and cheese for dinner and loved it!

L and I also made a vegan chocolate banana nut bread together. Very moist and delicious. His favorite part is obviously licking anything he can get his hands on and since I don't bake with eggs it was alright with me!

Lastly, all the boys and I made an empanada for the International Festival they participated in. (That post is to follow!)






As you can see we made a giant size empanada! The boys loved it and I think it was a hit at the International fair, because we didn't bring any home!

Mom's weekend away!!!!!

I had the opportunity to attend a Woman's retreat last weekend....the whole weekend!

It was an amazing time and I was so blessed. The speaker, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, was amazing. The fellowship with my sweet friends was refreshing and God taught me so much! Overall, a great experience and I hope I can attend next year!

Here is a picture of my friend M and I. We are so busy that we rarely get to see each other, but this weekend we got to spend over 6 hours in the car and then room together. It was wonderful!

Big C had a very busy weekend trying to manage all the boys. Good thing he had some help from his aunt and some sweet friends of ours. On Saturday he and C1 were able to attend a UNC football game, thanks to our friends (M & P). They had an amazing time! Good father and son bonding. C2 got to have a sleepover with a friend and attend a football game as well, NC State and Duke. He had a blast. L and J got to hang with their aunt and cousin and had so much fun!

When I home, I was showered with gifts and hugs from my sweet husband, who said, (I don't know how many times!) I'm so glad your home. In fact the day after I got home, the boys and I got home later than Big C because we were at a play. As we pulled in the driveway ....

L says, "Mommy are we having a party?"

I said, "No, why?"

He said, "Because I see flowers and balloons on the table"

I was greated with another big hug and another, "I'm so glad you are home!" It was wonderful. I told him, I need to get away more often :)

Big C is a wonderful husband and a great dad and I am so thankful for him!

Election Day!

I know, I know.....it was so long ago. Just didn't want to pass up this opportunity to share this photo and some brief thoughts!

Election day was a big day here! I woke up and 5:45 to vote, really didn't want to try to do it with all four! It went smooth and I only waited about 20 minutes.

Got home and later on took the boys to vote! Note...this was no easy task, between the traffic and the rain, and a toddler I barely made it out alive, but it was worth it! The boys had a blast!

At each polling station there was a kids station set up. Those in charge did such a wonderful job. There were middle schoolers running it and there were actually booths and the ballot looked very official, except it had pictures on it. The boys were so thrilled to participate and each got the sticker you see above! C1 in his brilliance asks the middle schoolers, "Do we get anything for our voting, like the adults can exchange their voting sticker for a Starbucks?" Boy, was he thrilled when he was handed a coupon for a free meal at CiCi's pizza!

We all thought the process was so much fun and then we got to go out for pizza to boot!

Later that night, after dinner, we sat down to watch the election. Though we were disappointed with the results, we know that God has a plan much bigger than we do and so we choose to obey His word, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established." Romans 13:1 This is what we shared with the boys and that night we prayed for President Obama and for our precious country.

God Bless America!

Halloween and other misc fun stuff!

We had a very relaxing and fun Halloween! We decided to go to a local church for their FunFest. There were lots of games and tons of candy! Everyone had a great time!

The soccer season is officially over! I hope you can enjoy this short video of C2's last game! It was cold and rainy, but they won and he scored a goal! It was a great game to end the season with. We couldn't be more proud of C2, he worked hard and had a wonderful season! He learned a lot, was a team player and a great sport. He had a wonderful attitude whether they won or lost, something he definately didn't inherit from me!

Directly after the game we went inside the church so the boys could participate in their first Grand Prix. It was a learning experience for all, especially mom and dad (You should have seen some of these cars!)It was a lot of fun!

Reformation Celebration

October 31st is the anniverary of the Reformation of the church. It was on October 31st, 1517 that Martin Luther, an Augustinian Monk, posted his 95 theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenburg, Germany. In it he challenged practices in the church such as the sale of indulgences, a practice in which people paid money to the church in exchange for promises that their loved ones would be freed from purgatory sooner rather than later. Later he translated the scriptures to German and had them printed for the common people to read. (This was a wonderful follow up to our study last week on Johann Gutenburg and the printing press!)

Last week we studied this period in history by reading lots of books about Martin Luther and even having a "Reformation Dinner"! I took a stab at making a German meal, since that is where he was from, though I have never cooked anything German in my life. It actually turned out okay. I got the recipes from another homeschool blogger site. We had Wiener Schnitzel (made with pork instead of veal), Kaesspaetzele, a German style macaroni and cheese, and apple strudel. Below is a picture of C2 making the strudel and having fun with the apples! He has fun with everything! We finished the study by watching a movie on Martin Luther.

It was a fascinating time in history which showcases the bravery of a man willing to stand for Christ and on His Word. It is our prayer that our boys will embrace God's truth with the same conviction.

I've been tagged!

A fellow homeschooling mom and sweet friend, has tagged me. She informs me that all I have to do is post my daily schedule. Okay....here goes!

Lately, it seems rare that we are able to follow the same routine every day. I'll go ahead and share what we do on the days that we are able to stay home the whole day. Pajama days, I love these days and wish we had more of them.

Mom is up at 6 to exercise, do bible study and answer emails.

I usually have about 30 minutes until C2 wakes up, he is my early riser!

7 is time for shower and chores.

Breakfast and devotion at 8.

More chores at 8:30.

Prayer journals and bible study with the boys at 9

At 9:30, the big boys do independent work (math, Latin, and grammar) while I play with J and L is on the computer

We have snack and play at 10. I usually also try to start making a bread at this time.

At 10:30 we all meet up for history, geography, vocabulary, etc.

Then it is on to literature both independent and with mom. L and J play together during this time.

Around 11:45 I prepare lunch to the sound of C1 practicing guitar! Love that!

Lunch and more chores! I try to get dinner started now.

After lunch I read to the little ones and put them down, then I read to the big ones. We reading the Sugar Creek Gang series and are really enjoying it.

Then it is back to the books with the big boys. This is when we go over all independent work from earlier. We also do some research during this time.

We finish up around 3:30 and then the boys can play outside. I finish up dinner prep and yes, you guessed it, more chores!

We sometimes to go the library or run errands during this time.

Dinner is around 6:30.

Then we either just hang, watch a movie or play a game.

All boys in bed no later than 8. (For reason why, see below)

If Big C and I can stay awake, we really enjoy watching a movie together before bed.

God is good to allow me to have all this precious time with my boys! I am very thankful.

This is the usual scene before bed!